Philip Mansbridge, CEO, Care for the Wild, talks about responsible animal tourism. Care for the Wild runs the www.RIGHT-tourism.org website where tourists can get information on animal “attractions", customs and issues for every country in the world.

For many, seeing wildlife in its natural habitat is the experience of a lifetime. Just looking at some of the photos on the PlanetWildlife website makes me want to pack my bags and hit the road in search of another one of nature’s living wonders.

Even if you’re not heading out on safari or going on a wildlife adventure, you will most likely come into contact with animals in some way on your next holiday. It could be an “exotic” experience like trekking on an elephant in Thailand or taking a camel across the desert in Morocco, or as simple as seeing the monkeys at the local zoo in a city or bird watching in a national park.

When people are presented with an “animal attraction,” they are now asking themselves the question: “Is this okay?” Certainly in many countries, we’re becoming very aware of potential cruelty or animal welfare issues on many fronts, but how does the consumer tell the “good” animal attraction apart from the “bad”?

It’s not always easy, but there are a few basic rules we at RIGHT-tourism have come up with:

Culture or cruelty?

It’s quite easy, and sometimes tempting, when you’re on holiday to let local culture blind you to animal welfare issues. This could mean tasting a local delicacy in a restaurant made from animals that wouldn’t normally be considered as “meat” in other societies. In some cases, the animals might be endangered, or may have suffered due to the methods used to catch, farm, transport or slaughter them. In some cases the animals are deliberately tortured before slaughter in order to enhance the taste of the product. Always ask what a product contains, so you can make a judgement as to whether the animal involved is endangered or has suffered.

Culture can also mean going to a local festival or sport, which involves animal cruelty. Bullfighting is an obvious example. Would you go to see a bull tormented and stabbed to death for a cheering audience in your neighbourhood? Wrapping it up in silk and calling it local culture doesn’t change the fact that it is cruel. What about Pamplona? That’s just running with the bulls, surely? Well not exactly, they are running the bulls to the bullring, where they will be killed. Tourists are contributing to keeping these “traditions” alive.